I tut, then hope my mum didn’t hear it.I’m under no illusion that she knows nothing of what my father has planned for me.Even if she did, she’d have about as much influence over his decision as I do.
“But there are some things your father has no control over….”Her voice trails off, and my heart sinks.
“What do you mean?”
That heavy pause again.
“I’m just talking about the things that no one has any control over, not even your father.”
I roll my eyes and am glad she can’t see me.
“Are you talking about the suspicions that this house is haunted?Because I can tell you that we haven’t experienced anything up here.”Well, nothing that can’t be explained with rational thinking,I want to add, but I know that if I tell her about my nightmare and the light blowing in the en suite, she’ll freak out.
“I wish you were here.I wish you weren’t there in that house” is her only reply.
“I’m sure we’ll be back soon,” I tell her as Fenrir enters the room.I look up at him and nod, as if trying to tell him telepathically that I’m on the phone with my mum.
“I hope so.More than anything, I hope so.Stay safe, my baby girl.I love you.And Hayami…?”There’s a beat down the line, and I want to give her the time she obviously needs to gear herself up for whatever she’s about to say, but my impatience gets the better of me.
“Yes?”
“Don’t let the house speak to you.”
“What do you mean, Mum?Hello?Mum?”But all I hear is the drone of the dead line.I drop the phone by my side.
“Don’t let the house speak to you.”Jeez, she’s really lost it.
Fenrir is next to me, his face grave.“What did she say?”
I shake my head.“Nothing much.She was being weird.”
“Was she drunk?”
“No, that’s what makes it even weirder.This was the most sober and clear-headed I’ve heard her in a long time.”
“What did she say?”he repeats.
I glance at him, wondering what he’ll make of it.“She told me not to let the house speak to me.”
The muscles flex in his neck, his scars rippling as he remains silent.It’s not the reaction I predicted.I thought he’d have sniggered at the ravings of a madwoman—a woman who spends most of her time high on prescription medication or doused in an alcoholic stupor.But no.
Instead, he remains motionless, like this all makes sense to him, as if he knows what my mother is referring to.
Why do I feel like he’s in on the secret?Why do I feel like I’m the only one standing in the dark?
THIRTY-TWO
FENRIR
PRESENT
I hopeHayami didn’t pick up on my hesitation when she said that her mum had told her not to let the house speak to her.I didn’t want to dismiss it as fanciful, or something that shouldn’t be taken heed of, because I don’t think that’s the case at all.Junko might be under the influence of some pretty heavy medication these days, but she wasn’t always this way.It appears as though her dive into madness began here, twenty-one years ago, at Belial House.
Junko knows more about this house than we do, and I’m determined to learn what that is.
So, whilst Hayami works at the desk in the library, I sink into the chair and return to the journal, and it isn’t long before I come across Kevin.
Day Seven
